Brewers' Quinn Priester Hints at Optimistic Injury Timeline

What do we know about Priester's recovery timetable?

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Quinn Priester (46) throws in the outfield during spring training workouts Saturday, February 14, 2026, at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. | Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers are starting to find the answers they sought on Quinn Priester's injured wrist.

After a trip to visit a specialist earlier this week, it was determined that Priester was dealing with a form of thoracic outlet syndrome, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. It was a scary diagnosis in some ways, but the Brewers are also hopeful he'll be able to rid himself of it without undergoing surgery.

Priester, meanwhile, is taking the optimistic approach to the diagnosis. There's no way to avoid a stint on the injured list to start the season, but the 25-year-old doesn't believe the injury is destined to cost him something like half of the season, or even a couple of months.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

What Priester said about injury diagnosis

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Quinn Priester (46) throws during the first inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds Friday, September 26, 2025 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“In my head, I would love late April, May, but I certainly think I’m on the optimistic side as a player," Priester said Friday, per McCalvy. "I want to be back as quick as possible. Ultimately, I’ll trust whatever the scheduling is, to make sure we do it right.”

Meanwhile, Brewers manager Pat Murphy hinted that things could have been worse had the club not managed Priester so carefully this spring, which it did as soon as it picked up on the right-hander having the same wrist discomfort that was nagging him at the end of the regular season last year.

“What would happen is he would throw, and (say), ‘Ah, I feel something. It just wasn’t right,’” Murphy said, via McCalvy. “Then he’d feel great. Then he’d come out and throw the next time and not be able to build up. … So it was back to the drawing board. Even the TOS specialist said we did all the right things, because you have to rule out things.”

Is just a one-month absence overly optimistic at this point, given the fact that games start in less than two weeks, and a nerve issue like TOS is one that teams are becoming increasingly wary of messing with? Quite possibly.

But Priester's optimism is still a positive sign in the face of some uncertainty, and in the meantime, the Brewers did an excellent job stockpiling backup rotation options this winter.